JACKSON, Wyo. -- Bridger-Teton National Forest officials are proposing to allow more heli-skiing but in redrawn permit boundaries that limit interference with wildlife and backcountry skiers.
The forest has released a draft study and proposal to award a five-year permit to High Mountain Heli-Skiing, which has been guiding heli-skiing trips in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton and Idaho's Caribou-Targhee national forests since 1977.
The company had sought permission to expand its operation.
Under the forest's preferred plan, the company would be allowed access for 1,000 skier days, up from 468 days originally permitted in 1984.
The company had requested 1,500 skier days to meet future demand.
In years past, the U.S. Forest Service has granted the company permission, on a temporary basis, to increase "service days," which have ranged from 481 to 903 in each of the past seven years.
A service day is defined as any part of a day in which an outfitter or guide provides services in the forest for a single client.
Conservation groups have criticized the Forest Service for approving increased use without studying the environmental effects. The study released last week is intended to answer those questions.
Jackson District Ranger Nancy Hall said the preferred alternative strikes a balance between retaining quality heli-skiing and limiting the effects on wildlife and other backcountry users.
While increasing the number of service days, the proposal would also redraw permit boundaries to exclude areas identified as crucial winter range for bighorn sheep, moose, elk and deer.
Also, the proposed new permit boundary would exclude popular backcountry skiing terrain accessed from the ground -- out-of-bounds backcountry accessed from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, the Mount Oliver area and the Cache Creek drainage.
Other proposed alternatives include capping skier days at 1984 levels, when the Wyoming Wilderness Act was passed and the Palisades Wilderness Study Area designated.